


Five Times Phil Saved His Children, and the One Time He Couldn't

by Lightning_Zombie



Series: Zombie Apocalypse MCYT [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Blood, Dadza supremacy, Gen, Guns, Housefire, Kinda angsty I guess? mostly because idk how to write fluff, Knives, Minor Character Death, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Swearing, Violence, bullet wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29334444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightning_Zombie/pseuds/Lightning_Zombie
Summary: Phil has always protected his children, and that doesn't change when the zombie apocalypse lands on his doorstep.For five of his kids, he is always successful.For one, he isn't.///Raten Teen for violence and character death
Series: Zombie Apocalypse MCYT [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156715
Comments: 23
Kudos: 79
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	1. Tommy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back with more zombies. If you couldn't tell, I quite like them hehe. This is going to be multiple chapters because it was too long and messy otherwise. 
> 
> I will add specific trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter but there's some general ones in the tags. Be safe, everyone!
> 
> ///
> 
> This is a work of fiction about my interpretation of the persona's of CC's, not the CC's themselves. Do not repost my fics to other sites. Do not send my fics to CC's. If you're a CC, in the nicest way possible, go away. This is for the fans.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy goes for a walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> Brief mention of a knife  
> Brief mention of guns  
> Non-graphic description of blood

Phil lost his recklessness a long time ago, but he should've expected it to come out in one of his sons.

Tommy wanders through the woods outside the walls, a place he is completely forbidden from going unaccompanied. Little light streams in through the canopy, leaving him in darkness. The trees tower over him but the fauna stays quiet, hidden high in the branches and deep underground.

Silence deafens Tommy more than noise ever could.

He's been lost for a while, but he won't admit that. He's scared, but he won't admit that either. At sixteen years old, he can take care of himself. No need for an _adult_ to accompany him, right? 

Tommy keeps walking, hoping it's the right way to get him home. He's been out here for over an hour, that's enough outside time for him. Pulling his jacket around him more, he shivers. It was stupid coming out here alone, but he's never been the smartest kid. He likes adventure, and there isn't much of that in the QZ. It's all too safe, too controlled. Tommy needed to get some of his energy out, and Sapnap already banned him from climbing onto the town hall roof. Everywhere else, he'd spent the last year exploring with his friends. He needed somewhere new.

Something moves in Tommy's periphery, and he draws his knife, a large hunting blade. Techno gave it to him after finding it on a corpse, apparently, but Wilbur told him the last part so god knows if it's true. Tommy isn't allowed a gun yet. There's no age limit on having one in the QZ, it's down to the guardian. Phil says no every single time Tommy asks. Eret won't let Tubbo have one either.

"Who's there? I have a knife!" Tommy yells. He's killed infected before but never alone. He probably wouldn't be able to kill a human. _Why didn't he bring Tubbo with him?_

"Me." Phil says from behind him, hidden in the shadow of an old oak tree. Tommy whips around and screams before he realises it's his father. Thank god he didn't react fast enough with his knife. "Shush, you'll wake the dead." Phil scolds, then chuckles to himself.

"Dad, what the _hell?_ Why would you sneak up on me like that!" Tommy complains, sheafing his knife roughly. He sighs. "You scared me."

"Why are you out here alone?" Phil puts on his best disappointed dad face, but Tommy can see right through it. They're too alike, too in each other's heads. He knows he's in for a verbal kicking, and maybe a literal one, if Techno finds out what happened.

"Uh." Tommy can't come up with an excuse, except that he didn't bring Tubbo because he didn't want to get him in trouble too. "Well, y'know, I was bored."

"Well that was fucking stupid of you." Phil sighs. "You could've gotten lost, or bit, or stumbled into a pit of spores, like-" He stops. _Like Ranboo,_ he doesn't say, but they're both thinking it. 

Tommy refuses to admit that he actually was lost. The memory of Ranboo stumbling back to the QZ gates, spitting blood and fungi and _screaming_ like he was on fire, flashes behind Tommy's eyes. It snaps him back to his senses. "Well… did you come out looking for me on your own?"

"Yeah." Phil says with a shrug. "I couldn't alert anyone. They'd put you on house arrest. C'mon, before anyone actually notices we're gone." Phil turns and starts walking in a different direction to the one Tommy was heading in. 

Tommy thinks for a second. His dad is usually the careful, worrying type. "You could've gotten lost too. That's just as stupid as me. You're stupid, Phil."

"You get it from somewhere, and it certainly wasn't your mother." Phil doesn't stop walking and gestures for Tommy to follow him. "Come on, get moving."

Tommy runs to catch up to Phil. "Wait, so you _don't_ want me to be put on house arrest for this?"

"Tommy, whoever would have to guard you would have to put up with you all day, and I'm pretty sure they'd kill you. As much as I joke, I don't want that." Phil shakes his head. "Plus I did the exact same shit as a teenager so I know exactly what you were thinking. I can't punish you for being restless when we keep you cooped up like that."

"Thanks, dad." Tommy whispers.

"Don't mention it, and don't pull this shit again." Phil warns.

"Okay, okay." Tommy grins. "So what exactly _did_ you do as a teenager?"


	2. Wilbur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilbur gets locked in a closet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm posting two days in a row because WHY did this get 100 hits in 4 hours? It has more now, and SEVEN subscriptions? Is it because of the Dream tag??? He doesn't show up until chapter four, guys, I'm sorry.  
> Anyway, thank you so so much! Enjoy me forgetting how to characterise Wilbur for 1000 words.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> Blood  
> Zombie murder  
> Mentions of weapons (axe, katana, crossbow)

Phil has a lot of sons, but he never thought he'd have one as independent as him.

The Sleepy Bois are on patrol, sans Tommy, as usual on a Friday morning. They agreed to take the East shift, so the Dream Team can deal with a sudden influx of Infected on their usual route to the west. There shouldn't be anything dangerous over here, but they always check, just in case. Too many horror stories of QZs losing half their citizens because someone forgot to check one building.

Wilbur insists he'll be fine going into a small building on his own, while Phil and Techno check out a much larger one across the street. Phil is against splitting up. He'd rather be the one going in alone, but Wilbur is too tall to duck under the collapsed doorway of the other store. Wilbur has his radio clipped to his belt. He'll call if he needs help, which he won't. He can handle these things himself.

It's a pretty normal store, although due to the peeling paint of the signs and lack of product on the shelves he has no idea what it once was. Maybe a shoe store? Wilbur didn't know this part of town very well before the apocalypse; it's almost unrecognisable now.

Wilbur flashes his torch around the shelves and boarded up windows but sees nothing. They've all been empty for months. Coins scatter across the ground next to a smashed up till. A remnant of when people still cared about money.

The Dream Team made sure everything was looted when they first went on supply runs. They picked this part of town clean. Now they're just checking for Infected, or survivors. A perimeter walk, standard procedure even though they're not government run anymore, and haven't been for a while. Wilbur remembers hiding in his basement with Fundy when the government turned hostile and abandoned them. He shudders.

Wilbur wanders through the building, hearing nothing until he walks almost directly into a runner. Uncharacteristically quiet, stood right before him, back turned. 

_Oh fuck._ Wilbur thinks. He takes a step back, trying not to make a sound. His foot lands on glass from a broken mirror. The runner jerks up and glares right at him, blood dripping from its mouth. 

_"Fuck!"_ He hisses. The runner screams, followed by a lot more yelling, shrieking and clicking further in the building, hidden by the darkness. Wilbur turns on his heel and sprints away, but he can't remember where he came in. His heart hammers in his ears, the voice of his father screaming in his mind. _If you can't fight, run._

He sees a door, and prays to the blood gods that it's unlocked. It is, leading to a small storage closet that for some reason has a deadbolt on the inside. Another remnant from the beginning, when the advice was "stay calm, have a safe place ready to hide."

The runners hammer at the door as Wilbur hyperventilates inside. He's sure he can hear a clicker, or a late stage stalker, but god knows where it came from. This building was clear last week. Phil reviews the logs before they go out, and forces his children to do the same. Sam, Ant and Ponk wrote that this entire end of town was completely uninvaded. What could've happened in seven days that meant clickers were in the area? Was a horde moving in?

Wilbur takes a deep breath, momentarily remembering the crossbow attached to his backpack before realising there were too many infected for him to fend off on his own. He sits down on an upturned bucket. How the fuck is he going to get out of this one? That's the problem with going into situations alone. No back up. He thinks about all the times they've opened a cupboard and found a dead body inside. Then he stops, because he doesn't like that thought.

Wilbur reaches for his radio, but stops. The yelling from outside suddenly changes, going in a different direction, followed by death rattles and the crunch of an axe hitting infected skull. Only two people in the QZ fight with an axe, and only one is on shift today.

"Dad?" Wilbur yells. Once he can't hear infected screeches anymore, he slides open the deadlock but doesn't touch the door. It sounds safe, but that doesn't mean anything. "Dad, I'm in here!"

The door opens and rather than Phil, Techno is on the other side, looking frazzled. "Wilbur, Jesus!" Techno pulls him into a hug which Wilbur returns eagerly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I promise." Wilbur tries to pull away to avoid the blood on Techno's shirt, which seems to appear spontaneously when he goes out. Butchered Infected litter the floor. "Looks like you did a number on these guys."

"Oh, that wasn't me. I just got here." Techno lifts his mostly clean katana. The blood never really comes out. "That was dad."

Wilbur glances over at Phil, then has to take a proper look. He's drenched in blood, his axe still stuck in the skull of an infected. A wild look burns in his eyes as he breaths heavily. "No one threatens my boys." He hisses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is written but I need to edit it a lot because it sucks. I'm aiming for Thursday night GMT, but I have a lot going on right now so don't hold me to that hehe.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Niki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niki tries to help a friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me nailing my "NIKI NIHACHU IS PHIL'S DAUGHTER" manifesto to your door.  
> Okay they aren't biologically related in this fic but when has blood mattered?
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> Housefire  
> Minor Character Death  
> Mention of a Bullet Wound

Phil never had a daughter, but he collected one as caring as him along the way.

Niki coughs on the smoke, fighting her way through the falling debris. The flames lick at her exposed skin through torn clothes that she never has time to repair. She spent too much time fixing other peoples clothes. 

Her infirmary burns down around her, along with the rest of the street. Where did it start? She doesn't know, or care anymore. Everyone else ran, but not her. She made a promise to help everyone in this city, no matter the situation. Fire didn't change that. The destruction of the QZ did not change that. If she burns, so be it.

"Skeppy! I'm almost there, hold on!" Niki shrieks. A moaning, choking sound comes from somewhere, barely audible over the roar of the fire. She isn't sure if it's Skeppy trapped in the end room, his leg broken and unusable, or the infected pouring in through the walls. It all sounds the same. The sound burns itself into her memory. She sobs. Tears evaporate on her face. 

"Skeppy!" Niki screams again, choking on the smoke and her sobs. This time there's no response from anyone. She drops to the ground once she's halfway down the corridor, unable to take the heat and smoke any longer, suffocated. But she has to get to him. If there's any chance he's still alive, she has to help. 

"Niki!" Someone yells from behind her as something creaks and groans above her head. She ignores it. Nothing else is important. Right now, she has to get to Skeppy.

Rough hands pull her backwards, away from her goal. The man she was supposed to treat, to protect. She screams incoherently, words failing her smoke-scarred throat completely. A beam falls from the ceiling, crashing through the ground where she just stood. It annihilates her path to Skeppy, falling through into the basement. Niki is hauled out of the building and dropped unceremoniously onto the ground, coughing up ash, tears streaming down her face. Her burnt clothes stick to her skin, the smell of her singed hair stinging her nose. 

She finally looks up at who pulled her out. Phil coughs and crouches down in front of her. The sleeves of his green coat are burned and mud covers his face, but he looks otherwise unharmed. "Niki, darling, we have to go."

Niki shakes her head frantically. "No! Skeppy is still in there. If I don't get him out, Bad'll-"

"Bad's dead." Phil hoists Niki to her feet as gently as he can. She barely processes his words. Nothing hurts, but she knows she must be burned. She'll deal with it later. "I'm sorry, Niki, but if we don’t get out of here right now, we will be too."

"Okay." Niki sobs, watching her infirmary burn. The roof collapses in with a crash. If there's any chance Skeppy was still alive in there, it caves in with it. A year of her life, all the medicine people risked their lives to get, everything she can use to help, burnt up in minutes.

No. She still has her field kit in her backpack. She pulls it around in front of her. The outside of the bag is singed, but everything inside is safe. She's not useless. She can still help.

Phil pulls her into his chest and hugs her. While she smells like fire in all the wrong ways, like burning and sorrow and the end of a life, he smells like warmth and comfort. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you loved that place.”

"It's okay." Niki sniffs, even though it isn't okay, and it probably won't be ever again. "We need to go." She steps back, then notices the blood on Phil's leg. "Shit, what happened to you?"

"I got hit by a stray bullet. It's just a graze. I think the fire cauterised it, the bleeding's stopped.” Phil swears and takes Niki's arm and pulls her into an alley at the other side of the street. A swarm of infected run past, following someone Niki thinks looks like Eret, or maybe Sam. Someone tall, definitely. She almost calls out to him, but she can't. It’s too dangerous. Guilt builds in her chest. She just wants to help.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Phil asks, checking over Niki's arms.

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit crispy." Niki tugs at her hair. The burnt ends snap off in her hands and fall to the ground. It's a shame; her hair was finally getting long again.

"Alright, let's get going, yeah?" Phil kisses her on the top of the head, and they start towards the evacuation point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niki Nihachu supremacy! Sorry this is short, the next one is WAY longer I promise.
> 
> Also, thank you for 30 kudos! That's so many!!! Thank you much :D
> 
> Next chapter might be next week. I'm returning to university this weekend so I'm frantically packing my entire life into boxes. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


	4. Tubbo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo gets hit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This one is quite a bit longer than the other chapter because I simply think that Tubbo supremacy. 
> 
> And thank you for 400 hits and 30 kudos! I'm glad so many of you are enjoying my writing <3
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> Guns  
> Bullet Wounds  
> Background Character Death  
> Mild Violence

Phil loves his adopted children as much as his biological ones, but he wishes he hadn't found one as unlucky as him. 

Everyone got split up when the walls fell, trying to escape the hordes and the flames. They have a meeting point in an old shopping centre a mile outside of the QZ, since the first time something like this _almost_ happened. The adults drilled the route to this place into the kids heads as soon as they could understand directions. Patrollers clear it every couple of weeks, occasionally finding a runner that wandered in. They never find other human survivors. No one knows if that's good or not.

Tubbo knows all this, but he's still terrified, crouched in an abandoned toy store alone. He hid in Eret's house when the horde broke through the walls. Eret gave him a pistol and told him to run, so he did. Tubbo heard Eret scream but hadn't heard anything else from her since. Nothing followed him out of the QZ, thankfully. 

He tries to scrub some of the dirt off of his face but it won't budge. He doesn't know when he got blood on his shirt, but nothing hurts, other than a cramp in his leg, so it probably isn't his. As his adoptive brothers would say, he looks like hell. He almost looks… infected. But he isn't, he feels fine.

Tubbo has a radio that he grabbed from the kitchen table when he left. He occasionally whispers into it, hoping for a response, but nothing. Is anyone else alive? Their meeting point is upstairs, but he’s been too scared to move so far. Maybe if he goes up there, someone will have already arrived. Someone who can help him.

Holding his breath to avoid attracting any attention to himself, Tubbo peeks over the counter. When he sees and hears nothing, so he vaults over. He clips his radio to his belt and holds his pistol how Techno taught him to. Aimed at the floor unless he saw something move.

He makes it to the bottom of the escalator without incident, and climbs up the stairs. Escalator stairs are bigger than normal ones. Each one is an effort and he can't take them two at a time, like Tommy likes to do with the stairs at home. Is Tommy still alive? _Don't think like that_ , he scolds himself. He'd know if Tommy was dead. They're basically brothers, practically twins, like Techno and Wilbur. What if- Nope. No one is dead. They'll all be fine.

Tubbo reaches the top of the escalator and looks around the floor. His footsteps echo around the empty food court, occasionally cushioned by foliage growing up through the ground. Light streams in through broken sunlights, but all the glass has been cleared. A sign sits in the centre.

_QZ Emergency Meeting Point._

Well, at least he's in the right place.

A noise comes from a nearby store, like something heavy hitting the ground. Tubbo freezes and holds out his gun. The building is falling apart like the rest of the city, but the shopping centre should've been made safe. He wants to run, but he knows he can’t. There's nowhere else to go. What if it's people? What if it's infected? If it's the former, that’s good. If it's the latter, he needs to kill them before everyone else gets here. No one else needs to get hurt today.

He walks up to the storefront. It looks like an old clothes shop, a few torn items littered the floor and the racks. The signs that could give him a hint as to which one are long gone. Tubbo slips in through the door and hides behind a clothing rack. Dream taught him how to clear a building like this, for when he became a patroller, which Tubbo guesses will never happen now. He moves slowly, checking each gap between railings for any sign of life, or not life. Mannequins tower over him, looking both too human and not human enough. Tubbo reaches the back of the store before he sees anything living. A doll lies on the floor, dirty but just like the one his sister had before... 

Before.

He leans down to pick up the doll when he hears a crack behind him. He makes a strangled sort of cry and whips around in time to see Wilbur when-

_Bang._

Something hits Tubbo in the leg, like a punch straight through his thigh. He falls back into a shelf with a crash. Tubbo whimpers but can't seem to get himself together enough to make any other sound.

"Wilbur!" Tommy shrieks, appearing out from behind his older brother. "What the _fuck_?"

"I thought he was infected!" Wilbur drops his gun in shock. It clatters and skids across the floor out of sight.

Tubbo's eyes blur with tears. His head feels fuzzy as the pain spreads through his leg. Did Wilbur just _shoot_ him? No, that's not possible, his big brother wouldn't do that. Wilbur must have kicked Tubbo instead. It doesn't feel like he's been shot, although he wouldn't know what that feels like. Tubbo looks down. A pool of red slowly spreads beneath him, staining his jeans. _Oh no._

"You fucking idiot, Wilbur! That's our _brother_." Tommy crouches down in front of Tubbo and presses a discarded shirt to his leg. "Hey, Big T, you're gonna be fine, okay? Don't look at- just keep looking at me, yeah?"

"Hey…" Tubbo slurs. His tongue feels heavy. He looks at Tommy, who refuses to come into focus. "Aren't you Big T?" It's a nickname coined by Phil, before Tommy actually grew to be taller than most of his brothers. 

"Not today, dude. You get to be the big man." Tommy sounds upset, but Tubbo isn't sure why.

"What's wrong?" Tubbo asks. reaching out to pat Tommy on the shoulder. His arm won't cooperate. "I'm fine, it's just my leg."

"Holy shit." Tubbo hears someone say. Dream, maybe or Skeppy? All these Americans sound the same to him. "Sap, get Niki. Wilbur what the _fuck_ have you done?"

"It was an accident!" Wilbur insists. "Oh my god, Eret is gonna kill me, if Phil doesn't get to me first."

"Why am I killing you- fucking _hell!"_ Phil's voice raises ten decibels at the end of his sentence. Tubbo winces. He doesn't like it when the adults shout at each other. There was a lot of it in the beginning, when the QZ first started up, and once the government abandoned them. No one could agree on anything, then it got better as people figured everything out. Then it all fell. Tubbo can't bear for the fighting to start again.

"What happened to you?" Dream asks Phil, as Niki comes up to Tubbo and starts ordering Tommy about. She uses her knife to cut open his jeans, to get to the wound easier.

"Got caught in some cross fire." Tubbo can just about see a red line on Phil's leg through a rip in his trousers. Everything is a blur of shape and colours that mean very little to him. "It's a flesh wound, don’t worry."

Tubbo closes his eyes. They're just _so heavy._ He feels Niki fussing over him, bandaging his leg wound as Tommy holds his hand and tries to distract him.

"Hey, dude, it's gonna be fine, y'know, I heard you on the radio but ours broke so we couldn't reply, but we knew you were here. We were looking for you." 

"Yeah." Tubbo mumbles. He really wants a hug right now. "Where's Eret?"

"Dead." Dream says, tactless as ever.

"Dude! The kid just got _shot."_ Sapnap hisses. What sounds like someone hitting another person rings in Tubbo's ears.

"I'm not gonna lie to him- don't _hit me_ -"

"If you two are gonna fight, then you can get out of here." Phil hisses. Dream and Sapnap mumble apologies before footsteps retreat out of the store, still muttering to each other. Another set moves towards Tubbo.

Tubbo opens his eyes and sees Phil crouched in front of him. "Did you really get shot?" Tubbo asks.

"It was just a graze, mate. And it looks like you got much more than that." Phil nods to Tubbo's leg, which neither of them really want to look at.

"It's a through and through that missed all the major arteries and the bone." Niki says as she ties off the stitches. "He'll struggle to walk for a while, but as long as he keeps getting antibiotics, it won't do him too much harm. He's lucky."

"Wilbur's the lucky one." Tommy mutters.

"I'll carry him." Techno says. Tubbo hadn't realised he was there until now. He stands back, half hidden behind the pillar he's leaning against. Wilbur stands next to him, looking mildly horrified still.

"We'll all take a turn." Phil says. 

They sit silently for a while as Niki bandages Tubbo's leg. Tommy shifts so he's sitting next to Tubbo, who leans his head on his best friend's shoulder.

"Is Eret really dead?" Tubbo asks, his voice small.

"I'm sorry, Tubbo. I know she was like your sibling." Phil runs his hand through Tubbo's hair gently.

"I heard her screaming. I should've gone back for her." Tubbo mumbles, feeling delirious and distressed. Tears well up in his eyes again.

"Mate, you did the right thing getting here." Phil kisses him on the forehead. "Now, you get some rest while I do a headcount, okay?"

"Okay." Tubbo mumbles.

"I'm staying here." Tommy insists. Phil nods. Niki pretends she's still working; she knows what's coming and doesn't want to be involved.

Phil straightens up and gestures to Techno and Wilbur to follow him. Once they're outside the entrance to the clothes store, Phil smacks Wilbur in the face. "You _fucking idiot!"_

"I'm sorry! It was an accident." Wilbur uses his arms to shield himself from any further assaults.

"If you have any more accidents like that, you're gonna have more issues than Tubbo does right now." Techno hisses, gripping his katana.

"I'm sorry!" Wilbur sobs. "I didn’t mean to, I got scared."

"We're all scared." Dream mutters from where he stands with Sapnap and George. The latter carries Fundy on his back; he'd grabbed the youngster while they fled the QZ without a second thought. The kid glances between his father, uncle and grandfather, concerned.

"We'll talk about this later." Phil shoots Wilbur one last glare. "Techno and Wilbur, clear all the stores up here. Dream team, can you take downstairs?"

"Yessir." The boys say. George hands Fundy off to Phil. 

"Are you okay, papa?" Fundy asks, looking down at Phil's leg. 

"Yeah, buddy I just got unlucky. We all got unlucky."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Dream Team are finally here! I don't know how to write them I'm so sorry if they seem weird.  
> Also, people should use she/her pronouns for Eret more. Just as a general note. She says "any pronouns" for a reason, y'all. 
> 
> I'm safely back in my uni dorm so the next chapter will be in the next couple of days. Thanks for reading!


	5. Fundy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fundy goes for a swim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I googled if foxes can swim before writing this and the apparently the answer is "yes but they don't want to" so there's that.
> 
> I always write Fundy as smol and idk why... he is just a little creature.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> Falling into water  
> Brief mentions of blood; a bullet wound

Phil was lucky not to have a child as graceless as him. He wasn't as fortunate with his grandson.

Fundy stands behind Sapnap as the rest of the group jump across the rushing river, the only obstacle between them and the next town. The nearest bridge is a mile up the road, and they don't have that kind of time. The horde is coming. It's always coming. 

The river isn't that wide here, but it's deep and fast flowing. If anyone fell in, they'd be swept away. It disappears into the thick, dark forest, like a path into the void.

With a lot of help from Techno and Tommy, Tubbo manages to get across. He doesn't complain much about his leg, but everyone can see how much it hurts him. They have antibiotics but no pain killers. Dream insists on carrying him for the next few miles. No one disagrees.

Phil puts his hand on Fundy's shoulder and gives it a quick squeeze. "You all go before me, okay?"

Sapnap shrugs as Fundy nods. Phil turns to look behind them, always checking for infected. Fundy bites his nails too hard, and bites into his finger instead.

George jumps across with ease, then reaches out for Sapnap who looks a little anxious. He ties his bandana tighter around his head before he takes a deep breath and jumps. George grabs onto Sapnap's arms as he lands on the bank, even though Sapnap cleared it easily.

"Come on, honey!" Wilbur shouts, reaching out across the rushing water to his son. Fundy whimpers. If Phil hears him, he doesn't acknowledge it other than a reassuring nod when his grandson looks up at him. Fundy is the last one to jump before Phil. Everyone else has already gone, safely on the other side. 

His legs shake. His heart races. He takes a deep breath.

Fundy jumps.

He misses the bank.

Wilbur doesn't catch him.

Fundy tumbles into the water, his scream cut off as the dark river sweeps him away. Phil cries out as Wilbur stands there frozen, arms outstretched. Phil dives into the water without hesitation, hitting the surface in a way that everyone watching knows must hurt. There's silence for over a minute as everyone stands there, unsure what to do. George tries and fails to say something about going downstream to find them, to maybe pull them out. It's futile, the river is faster than they ever could be. Sapnap pulls Wilbur away from the bank so he doesn't fall in too. Tubbo cries so hard that Niki takes him from Dream and brings him to Tommy, who looks on the verge of tears too. Techno keeps lookout, unsure how else to help.

Suddenly, Niki hears coughing from downstream. Phil walks up the bank, soaking wet, with an equally drenched Fundy shivering in his arms. Blood drips from Phil's leg where the bandages came loose over his bullet wound.

They're both alive.

Niki runs to them, checking them both over with frantic hands. But they're fine, other than a few scrapes and water-logged clothes. Sapnap gives Phil his jacket as Wilbur pulls Fundy into a hug, sobbing and apologising for not catching him. Fundy clings back desperately.

"Well, that was fun." Phil coughs, spitting river water into the grass. Tommy and Tubbo jump on him, hugging him tightly and yelling. "I'm fine. boys, I promise I'm fine."

"How did your hat stay on?" Sapnap asks, nodding to Phil's green and white striped bucket hat, still perched firmly on his head.

"I'm magic." Phil grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Granddadza supremacy? Is that a thing? Because I have been obsessed with the fact that Phil is Fundy's grandfather since the SMP made it canon.
> 
> Final chapter soon. Be prepared. :)


	6. Techno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno falls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh it's +1 time. From my fics you'd never believe that Techno is my comfort creator.
> 
> I love this fic, it's one of my favourite ones I've written in a while. I'm a little sad it's ending but I always intended for it to end this way. I'm glad people have enjoyed it too, and I hope you don't hate me for how it ends hehe. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> Major Character Death  
> Minor Character Death  
> Murder  
> Zombies eating people  
> Weapons (katana, bow and arrow, brief mention of guns)  
> Vomiting

Phil prides himself on raising his sons well, but comes to regret having one as selfless as him.

"Just go! Get out of here!" Techno pushes back against the door as Dream, or what's left of him, slams against it. He screams, alongside the clickers that got him. There's more coming. There's always more coming.

"We're not leaving you here!" Phil screams back, helping Tommy up through the skylight and onto the roof. It's just Phil and Techno left in the room, what looks like an old office. Everyone else is safe already.

"Well do you have any better ideas?" Techno asks, digging his heels in. They ran out of bullets two days ago. All Techno has is his katana, and not even he can take on this many infected with only one blade. 

"Go! I need you to pull me up when I let go of the door." Techno yelps as something slams into the door, hard. Even freshly dead, Dream is strong.

"Dad!" Wilbur yells, holding his hand out to Phil. With one last look at his son, Phil jumps up on the box they set below the skylight and lets Wilbur and Sapnap pull him up to safety.

"I found this." Sapnap holds up a bow and a single arrow. A few more lie broken, scattered across the roof. "Dream taught me how to…" He trails off. 

"Do it. Don't miss." Phil orders. Sapnap nods and notches the arrow. Phil lies on his stomach alongside Wilbur so he can reach down to Techno. "Now!" 

Techno pushes off from the door and runs to the skylight. Dream is faster. Always has been, since they were kids racing around the school yard at break time. Since they were on rival teams at sports day. Since they had to run back to the QZ when they saw the horde coming over the hill, and Dream slowed down so Techno could keep up.

This time, Dream doesn't slow down, because he isn't Dream anymore. 

Dream bites into Techno's shoulder, ripping off a chunk of shirt and flesh. Techno screams in agony. His katana clatters to the floor. Sapnap fires the arrow. It hits Techno in the temple, killing him. Mercy. He hits the floor with a sickening thud. Dream continues to maul him, like he's never eaten before. The other infected barrel in, swarming Techno and Dream. It's all over in less than a minute. 

Niki pulls Tubbo and Fundy away from the skylight "Don't look." She whispers, holding them both in her arms, as if that would deafen the sound of the infected ripping Techno apart. 

"What the fuck? What the actual _fuck_?" Tommy repeats under his breath, as George throws up for the third time since they lost Dream. 

Sapnap drops the bow as Phil gets up from the skylight and walks towards him, shaking, his face unreadable. "Dude, it was too late! I couldn't get an angle and-"

Phil wraps his arms around Sapnap and pulls him into a hug. "I know, it's okay." He whispers, rubbing Sapnap's back. Sapnap stands in shock for a few seconds before he hugs back. "You did the right thing. Thank you."

The dead shriek below them as they feast. Something clatters to the ground, but no one looks to see what it is. Wilbur pulls himself up into a sitting position before falling backwards, sobbing. Niki hands Tubbo and Fundy over to Tommy and runs to his side. She pulls him into her lap and whispers gentle reassurances to calm him, and herself, down. She won't cry. She can't cry. 

"We need to get off this roof." Sapnap says. 

"Yeah." Phil mutters, taking charge. He has no time to grieve right now. This isn't about him, or Techno, or Dream. It's about his children, all of them, but most importantly, the ones that are still with him on this roof. Dream is dead, and even though Phil didn't know him that well, his friends are Phil's responsibility now too.

"George, can you move?" Phil asks. That's all they need to do right now; move.

"Yes." George coughs. He leans heavily on Sapnap for a minute to try and ground himself, but being grounded hurts so bad. So he lets himself stay a little bit spacey, just until they're safe. He'll break down later. They all will.

Niki gets Wilbur to stand up and drink some of the little water they have left. He's stopped crying, but he shakes constantly, occasionally glancing into the building where his twin's body lies. The infected screech and try to reach the skylight, but without help, they can't. They scrape uselessly at the wooden edges, sending paint flakes cascading onto the floor.

"Is he good?" Phil asks, mechanically.

"Yeah, I can walk." Wilbur whispers, because that's about all he can do. Walk, far away from this place, away from the death of his twin brother and a good childhood friend.

"Okay." Phil softens for a second, then looks at Sapnap. "Keep that bow handy incase we find something to use with it."

"Aye aye, sir." Sapnap nods, his arm still around George, keeping him close.

"I'll carry Tubbo." Tommy says. No one argues. Fundy takes Tommy's backpack from him so Tommy can carry Tubbo on his back.

"If we keep going across the rooftops, I reckon we could make it over most of the worst bits of the city." Phil says. He picks up a long plank of wood leant against the edge of the roof. They can use it as a bridge. "We ready?"

A chorus of muttered 'yeahs' come from the party.

"Then let’s keep moving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Thank you for reading all of this! Super long note ahead lol.
> 
> I'm not someone who cares much about numbers, I just enjoy writing for the hell of it, but this fic has 800 hits??? I'm really glad people are enjoying my silly little zombie stories. I'll definitely be writing more when I get an idea (or if someone suggests an idea again hehe). I have a plan for another chapter fic but I'm a university student so you'll have to bare with me.
> 
> Big thank you to my best friend for encouraging me to post my fics here in the first place. I love you, buddy.
> 
> Another thank you to everyone who comments on my fics! Kudos and hits are one brilliant thing but seeing people express how much they like it means so much to me. I have a folder on my phone where I keep screenshots of my favourite comments. I really, really appreciate every single one of them. Again, thank you.
> 
> If you liked this fic, I've got two more like it on my account (Death of the Family and its sequel, Graze). You can read them if you would like to uwu
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


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